Opinion: To pardon or not: Does Joe Arpaio deserve prison time or our thanks?

To the editor: Joe Arpaio, the controversial former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., was convicted of contempt of court for his refusal to follow the law and obey a judge’s order to stop his racial profiling practices.

President Trump has indicated his intent to pardon him. If Trump does indeed pardon Arpaio, he will flout his oath of office to uphold the laws under our Constitution. (“If Trump pardons Arpaio, he’ll reward defiance of the courts, and that’s wrong,” editorial, Aug. 23)

I believe that our president has and continues to demonstrate a complete and total disregard for our laws and our legal system. His hinting that he may pardon Arpaio along with his recent suggestions that police officers should rough up people they detain should be added to the case for his impeachment.

Ignorance of the law by Trump or anyone else is still no excuse for dismissing the law.

Denis Robinson, Winnetka

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To the editor: It’s a funny world in which we live right now.

Arpaio is facing jail time for doing his sworn duty to enforce our laws, and Hillary Clinton can’t get indicted for blatantly violating national security laws, secret servers and destruction of evidence.

Arpaio deserves our thanks and gratitude for his years of service, not jail time.

If some political leaders dislike our current immigration laws, they should use our legislative system to change the law. They won’t do that because they know most Americans do not support open borders.

It’s not a racism issue, it’s simply an issue of an orderly legal immigration process, to which every country has a sovereign right.

Rick Kern, Incline Village, Nev.

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To the editor: So what else is new? Trump rants. He rants. He raves. He changes policy and the truth at will. He boasts and he brags. His words are the most parsed in the world.

No one can deny that Trump has a unique and forceful way of expressing himself. He is a verbal cannonball. What I still can’t accept is that so many Americans love and adore this man, this ranter and raver and liar, this spinner of tall tales and bigotry. They go ballistic at his rallies, where he rarely says anything of substance.

Trump’s support of Arpaio is red meat for his followers. I truly believe that too many in our country have lost their moral compass. We need a real leader who can help them get it back, and Trump is not that leader.

Bette Mason, Corona Del Mar

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